


Happy Birthday, General

by EmperorsVornskr



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Blood, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 12:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30021684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmperorsVornskr/pseuds/EmperorsVornskr
Summary: As an unwanted bastard, Hux hates his birthday. Kylo may change his mind on that- or at least make the occasion a little less painful.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 12
Kudos: 58





	Happy Birthday, General

**Author's Note:**

> My birthday's tomorrow and I'm in a low spot, so this is entirely self indulgent.

Hux drummed his fingers on his desk as he scrolled down his datapad. Logistics. Endless lines of numbers and reports that ran between the cogs of his mind fluidly, effortlessly. The date flashed at him as midnight rolled over, and he scowled as a notification popped up on the display. He swiped it away with all the venom of one swatting an insect, then went back to work. With taps of his fingers on the interface, he made his allocations, filed away reports, and closed down his datapad. He sat back in his chair and rubbed at his temples, his eyes wrenching shut. 

>   
>  _“Haven’t seen the rat today.”_
> 
> _“It’s the rat’s birthday.”_
> 
> _“Is that why he’s hiding?”_
> 
> _“Yeah, Brendol hates the reminder that the bastard was born today, the anniversary of all his mistakes wrapped in a useless package.”_
> 
> _“You think Sloane celebrates his birthday?”_
> 
> _“Doubt it. Why would anyone be glad that skinny little shit was born?”_
> 
> _“You’re asking the wrong man, Brooks.”_
> 
> _“If you see him today, you should give him some birthday wishes with your riot baton.”_
> 
> _“Is it bad decorum to you give yourself gifts on someone else’s birthday?”_
> 
> _“I don’t know, Enric. Probably not, if it’s deserved.”_
> 
> _“Isn’t it always in his case?”_
> 
> _“Always.”_

  
Hux gritted his teeth. Another night, like any other, save for one difference: a night where everyone on the ship who knew the date would sneer into their cups and mark it down as another year that he’d managed to survive his own failures and shortcomings. A night where bets were paid out or paid up, and the bets would start again- whether he would live to see another year. Where scowls would spread over faces as they lamented that their commanding officer, despite being a year older, was still their junior by twenty years or more. 

It was another night where he was unwanted, loathed, but those who knew the date would just be tallying everything up and focusing their hatred on his very existence. The only difference was that on this night, Hux had to lock himself in his quarters or his office, because two years ago, there had been an assassination attempt. He had never expected anyone to like him, but he had hoped that one day, his birthday wouldn’t be a day of self isolation and self loathing, hating the fact that he’d even been born. At least this year, he was in his quarters, so he’d at least have a bed to sleep in. 

There was a knock and a ping at the locked door, and Hux flicked his fingers, knives slipping from the seams in his sleeves to his hands. He shifted his weight, letting his coat fall open to allow him access to his blaster- and the knives in his boots. He narrowed his eyes. 

“Who is it?” he called. 

There was a long silence, and Hux curled his lip, teeth glittering in the low light.

“Hux why the kriff is your door locked? I’ve tried with my code cylinder and the Force… I even tried slicing it. What the hell are you under lockdown for?”

It was Kylo. Hux turned on the camera outside his door and saw that Kylo was standing in front of his quarters, mask off, looking flustered. There was no one else in the corridor. Hux ran the unlock sequence and let him in. As Kylo came inside, taking off his boots- as had become habit- Hux ran the locking sequence again. Kylo lifted a brow as the multiple security systems engaged. 

“You expecting an assassin or something?” he asked. 

“Yes,” Hux said bluntly, putting his knives away. 

“Paranoid, much?” Kylo asked, shedding his cloak- and setting down a small package Hux hadn’t noticed. It must have been under his cloak. 

“Someone tried to assassinate me two years ago to the day,” Hux replied, getting up to shed his coat and get a drink from his liquor cabinet. He wasn’t in the mood to spar with Kylo tonight. 

“Yeah. There’s been some seditious thoughts and betting pools tonight,” Kylo growled, tapping his temple with a finger. “It’s why I’m here.” 

“So you _do_ care,” Hux quipped as he poured some brandy. 

“You know what Snoke would do to me if something happened to you while I was on the ship?” Kylo shot back. “The sex is great, but I’m not here because I have any feelings for you or anything.” 

“No, I don’t imagine you have any feelings aside from lust, anger and frustration,” Hux agreed, sitting on the couch with his drink and a lit cigarra. 

Kylo sat beside Hux on the couch, and careful not to tip over the General’s drink, he pulled him against his side. Hux was tense for a few seconds, then with a full body shudder, melted against Kylo, leaning into his warmth. He put his drink on the table, took a long drag of his cigarra, then stubbed it out in the ashtray so he could lean against Kylo completely. 

“You made me waste that cigarra,” he complained, but there was no conviction, no fight in his voice. Kylo snorted. 

“Like you need them,” he replied, pressing his nose into Hux’s hair as he wrapped an arm around his shoulders. With his other hand, he picked up the package, and put it in Hux’s lap. Hux blinked at it.

“What’s this?” he asked. 

“Open it,” Kylo said softly into his hair. Hux’s red hair smelled of pomade and the soft clean scent of his skin.

Hux opened the package curiously, revealing a pair of sleek daggers with matte black handles and blades with edges that glittered with an odd red sheen. Hux could tell they were perilously sharp just by looking at them, but couldn’t identify the red sheen. He recognised the metal, however, and his throat was stuck with disbelief. 

“Phrik,” Kylo confirmed. 

“How?” Hux finally managed. 

Phrik was nearly indestructible, was resistant to lightsabers, was very rare- and extremely expensive. Kylo had to have either dumped his entire savings on acquiring the metal, or had stolen it from a plunder victim. The only Phrik mines were on Gromas 16, which was in Republic Space, though they were mildly ignored, as the Perkell system had been Separatist Allied during the Clone Wars. A single mine was not worth an invasion, no matter how valuable the metal. 

“Vicrul,” Kylo said simply. “Her staff is made from the stuff. She has a source, and she owed me.” 

“I thought all your Knights were male?” Hux said, still in a daze as he stroked the hilts of the new blades. They were works of art. 

“In presentation only,” Kylo said. “There’s a mixed bag under the masks, but we’re discussing you, not them.” 

“What’s the red sheen?” Hux asked. 

Kylo sat back, pulling away from Hux as he pulled his lightsaber from his belt, igniting it. He lowered the flickering blade close to the knives in Hux’s lap, and the blades began to glow in response along the wickedly sharp edges. 

“Bled kyber,” he said softly, shutting off his lightsaber and putting it on the table. “My kyber is cracked, unstable, and sometimes it sheds residue. I had it infused into the blades.” 

“You ordered these special?” Hux asked, finally pulling his eyes from the blades to stare at Kylo with wide eyes. Kylo smirked. 

“We have a metalsmith on retainer who specialises in working with Force related weapons,” he said. “This was a treat for him to work on.” 

Hux hesitated. 

“I’m not Force sensitive. I can’t use these.” 

Kylo picked up the blades and put them into Hux’s hands. They were perfectly weighted and balanced, and felt like extensions of Hux’s hands. 

“The kyber isn’t for fighting. It’s for us,” he said softly. 

Hux blinked at him. 

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

“If you use those, and get blood on them, I will know,” Kylo said seriously.

He ran a finger over the edge of the knife, slicing his fingertip open, then let a few drops of blood fall on the blade. Almost instantly, there was a thrumming sound from Kylo’s lightsaber, the kyber glowing bright red inside the hilt. Without thinking, Hux took Kylo’s hand and stuck the wounded finger in his mouth. 

“You could have just told me,” he said after licking the wound clean. “No need to cut yourself, you dramatic oaf.” 

Kylo smiled as Hux pulled bactagel and a bandage from his pocket- was the man never not prepared?- and tended his wound. He didn’t bother telling Hux it’d be healed by the morning; he liked having Hux fuss over him. It was distracting Hux from his own worries and anxiety. Hux’s hands were soft and strong, the tendons like durasteel cables under leather gloves. 

“I wanted to you that if you ever have to use those, I will know, and if I am able, I will be at your side as soon as I can,” Kylo said quietly. “That you’re never alone, and there is at least one person who is on your side.” 

Hux’s hands froze, and he didn’t meet Kylo’s gaze, processing what he’d heard. 

“I thought you didn’t care,” he finally said after a long silence where he’d held Kylo’s injured hand. 

“I don’t,” Kylo replied, and smirked when Hux looked up at him. “But I’m your personal pain in the ass, and no one else is allowed to take you out when I still enjoy being that pain in the ass.” 

Hux smirked, and Kylo felt the relief radiate from him when he realised neither of them had to make any confessions tonight. He slid his blades out of his sleeves, and replaced them with the new ones almost reverently- and Kylo noticed he didn’t wipe his blood from the blades. For some reason, that meant more to him than he could explain. 

“Thank you, Kylo,” Hux said. “I mean it. These are… they’re incredible.” 

Kylo slid a hand to the back of Hux’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss, feeling Hux melt against him again. 

_Happy Birthday, Armitage._

It was the first time Hux had ever enjoyed his birthday. 


End file.
